The themes and audience participation in Nepali theatre has diversified of late; professionalism in the industry has not.

To discuss this very issue, Shilpee Theatre, Battisbutali, organised a seminar titled 15 years of Nepali Theatre, which concluded on Saturday, January 2.

The two-day-long seminar saw presentations and discussion on the status of the contemporary Nepali theatre scene. The seminar, co-ordinated by eminent scholar, Dr Shiva Rijal, saw presentations by personalities such as Abhi Subedi, Ghimire Yubaraj, Ramesh Ranjan, Ashesh Malla, Arun Gupto, Salil Subedi, Dipesh Poudel and Meghraj Adhikari, among others. 

The first day of the seminar saw discussions on: The relationship between politics and theatre, led 

by Ashesh Mall; Trends of contemporary Nepali theatre, led by Arun Gupto; Performance art and modern theatre, led by Salil Subedi; The 

linguistics of Maithali theatre and 

its essence, led by Ramesh Ranjan; Art management in contemporary theatre scene, led by Dipesh Poudel; and the portrayal of Nepali society in translated plays, led by Meghraj Adhikari. Furthermore, Hum BC shared his experience with set designing.

The second day of the seminar saw presentations by Archana Thapa (on the treatment of gender issues in Nepali theatre), Birendra Pandey (about the Maithali society in contemporary Nepali theatre), Ghimire Yubraj (on the curriculum references of theatres), Shiva Rijal (on socialism in contemporary theatre), and Abhi Subedi (on writing plays).

Speaking during the concluding ceremony, on Saturday, co-ordinator Shiva Rijal focused on the problems of Nepali theatre and suggested ways to overcome its pitfalls. “We should first address our own shortcomings and move forward with a definite strategy… Then we should seek for help from the government. The government should come up with plans to subsidise theatre groups,” he said.

While Abhi Subedi, urged the audience to help out in galvanising the theatre scene, and said, “Let’s contribute to theatre—whatever we can, from wherever we can.”